HAM will not be missing from Paul Parker’s festive menu.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Mega Meats general manager enjoys nothing more than a traditional lunch on Christmas Day.
“Seafood is all right on Boxing Day, but on Christmas Day we need pork, turkey ... the whole lot,” he said.
And the butcher has a bounty of hams to sell at his Delacombe store.
Mega Meats has prepared 780 maple-cured, twice hickory-smoked ham legs for customers.
“It’s the same (number) as last year and we won’t have a problem selling them,” Mr Parker said.
The Otway Pork free - range hams were in November named Australian Pork Limited’s best traditional bone in leg ham for 2014.
“We pump the ham with maple cure and let it soak for one to two days,” Mr Parker said.
“Then the ham is double smoked with a hickory-flavoured wood chip.”
The hams are smoked by fellow butcher Michael Farinaccio in Melbourne.
It’s the second year the maple-cured ham will be sold with an orange glaze, courtesy of the Red Lion Hotel.
“Head chef Joe Capuano has prepared an orange-flavoured glaze,” he said.
Mr Parker said while traditional Christmas dishes were popular, people were becoming more experimental with their food.
“Every butcher has their own way of doing ham,” he said
“We do look to play around with ideas.”
Mega Meats supplies Christmas products to the Red Lion Hotel, the Western Hotel and Golden City Hotel.